Courmayeur Ski Holidays

Description

The Italian ski resort of Courmayeur sits in the Aosta Valley, at an altitude of 1225 metres with slopes running up to 2,755m. A pretty, charming and largely car-free Alpine town, Courmayeur is nestled near the foot of Mont Blanc — just 12km through the tunnel from the iconic French resort of Chamonix.

The heart of the village centres around the delightful town square, where kids enjoy ice creams and the town’s locals like to sit and watch the world go by. Streets are lined with small boutiques, welcoming cafes and charming restaurants — with a few antique shops too — lending the place a very traditional feel.

Up on the slopes, skiers in Courmayeur have access to 41 kilometres of groomed runs in the local area — with 64km of off-piste itineraries — and around 350km across the entire Aosta Valley.

Alongside the slopes in Courmayeur itself, Courmayeur’s full lift pass offers access to the other Aosta Valley ski resorts of Alagna Valsesia, Breuil-Cervinia, Crévacol, Etroubles, Pila and Saint-Rhémy-en-Bosses. With the right pass, you can also enjoy a day in nearby Chamonix.

There’s limited learner-friendly terrain and a good selection of steeper black runs for advanced skiers, but Courmayeur is best–suited to intermediate skiers keen to improve their technique on the excellent range of cruisy blue runs. For progression, there’s a good range of red-level pistes to challenge keen intermediates, too.

Overall, this is not a particularly large ski area though visitors do have easy access to nearby resorts such as Megève and Chamonix. With the Mont Blanc tunnel so close, many visitors use Courmayeur as a base from which to explore further afield.

Lifts are swift enough to allow skiers to cross the mountainsides with ease, with 6 cable cars, 9 chairlifts and 5 drag lifts in place providing swift uplift.

For freestyle skiers and boarders, there’s a very good snow park in Courmayeur — set at 2,000m with the soaring peak of Mont Blanc as a backdrop. Here, you’ll find a broad range of hits and kickers for park-fans of all levels, with a progressive area suitable for youngsters and beginners. For freestylers pushing themselves on to bigger and better jumps, there’s an airbag where you can practice new tricks in comparative safety.

In fresh snow, Courmayeur is an excellent spot for freeride skiers — with open powder fields and fresh lines to be found across the mountainside. And of course, with Chamonix so close, you’re spoiled for choice. Guide services are excellent, and heli-skiing is popular across the Aosta Valley when fresh snow falls. Among these soaring peaks and plummeting valleys, you’ll find some of the finest back-country in Europe.

On the accommodation front, Courmayeur is home to a wonderful range of traditional Alpine properties. You’ll find welcoming Italian hotels to suit a wide range of budgets, and there’s a decent selection of chalets run by UK tour operators too, whereby you can roll flights, transfers, food and accommodation into one handy package.

Getting There

Reaching Courmayeur from the UK is very easy. The airports of Geneva and Turin are both approximately 90 minutes’ drive away, and the nearest train station is Pré-St-Didier — 5 km down the road. Regular busses run the route.

When to Go

Where to Stay

Getting around

Apres

Courmayeur is home to a vibrant and welcoming après ski scene, with lively bars to be found both up the mountain and down in town. Diverse bars and cafes line the streets around the pedestrianised centre, and things get pleasantly busy on weekends, when people travel in from nearby Milan and Turin.

The main lift runs from the slopes back to the valley floor until midnight now, so there’s no rush to get back to the resort when you’re done skiing.

Visitors to Courmayeur in search of a place to park up can try venues such as American Bar, Bar Roma, or Courmaclub — a fancy nightclub which hosts famous DJs. For something a little more sedate, there’s Caffe della Posta, the Prive or Bar delle Guide.

Eating out

Foodies visiting Courmayeur in search of traditional Italian Alpine cuisine will not struggle to find menus to whet their appetite. There’s a wonderful selection of welcoming cafes and restaurants both up on the mountain and down in town, where fresh ingredients ad Italian flair combine.

Good for Couples

Al Vecchio Torchio

Via Regionale 8

Courmayeur

+39 0165 842258

Good for Couples

Mon Frety

Strada Regionale 21

Courmayeur

+39 0165 841786

Good for Couples

Petit Royal Restaurant

Via Roma 97

Courmayeur

+39 0165 831 611

Good for Family

La Terrazza

Via Circonvallazione 73

Courmayeur

+39 0165 843330

Good for Friends

Du Tunnel

via Circonvallazione 80

Courmayeur

+39 0165 841 705

Good for Friends

Ristorante lo Sciatore

Via Mont Chetif 42

Courmayeur

+39 0165 844788

Good for Friends

Vieux Pommier

Piazzale Monte Bianco 25

Courmayeur

+39 0165 842281

Activities

Away from the slopes, visitors can engage in a diverse array of non-ski activities and pastimes. Many of the resort’s hotels have sauna and spa areas, and there’s a large public swimming pool with thermal baths in Pre-St-Didier. Aside from this, ice skating and shopping are popular pursuits, and hikers can take the Monte Bianco cable car up to 2462m for some of the best hiking train in Italy.

Dog sledding

Courmayeur

info@dogsledman.com

Paragliding

Route Mont Blanc

Courmayeur

+39 335 8114734

Spa and wellness

Courmayeur

+39 0165.867272

Sports centre

Courmayeur

+39 0165 841612

Ski School

Getting around

Family ski

With limited learner-level terrain and slopes slightly disjointed from the resort itself, Courmayeur is perhaps not the best base for families with young children making their first turns. But if the kids are competent on their skis and in need of more challenging terrain, and you’re looking for a resort with plenty of Italian Alpine charm and a compact ski area, Courmayeur could work well.

The ski area is limited in scope and scale, but the swift lifts make access easy. Queues are refreshingly limited during the week, and the snow coverage is typically very good–with good natural snowfall alongside excellent snowmaking facilities. Courmayeur’s village centre is car-free, a real boon for parents visiting with children.

Courmayeur’s free beginner lifts are located in the Plan Checrouit sector, which is perhaps most easily accessible from the Val Veny cable car. And for parents in search of childcare, the Snow White Point Experience is run by the Mont Blanc ski and Snowboard School, and offers all you need to keep the kids entertained and safe in childcare on the slopes. It sits in Plan Checrouit within easy reach of the cable car, and welcomes babies up to 10 year olds into a diverse programme of activities and entertainments.

Group Ski

Childcare

Families in need of childcare in Courmayeur can place the kids in the care of the Sculoa di Sci — the local ski school — where children up to the age of ten are looked after near the Plan Checrouit cable car. There are indoor and outdoor play facilities, with mini-club ski lessons also available.